Blogs

Our blogs provide fresh, impassioned and authoritative commentary and insight about the variety of civil-liberties issues that the ACLU of Michigan takes up each day in our courts, governments and communities.

Get Involved

With the help of dedicated volunteers and community activists, the ACLU of Michigan works to raise awareness about the importance of preserving the individual rights and liberties that are guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.

Get Help

The ACLU of Michigan is one of more than 50 affiliates in the United States. As such, we encourage you to know as much as possible about your civil liberties. Further, if you feel those liberties have been violated, we suggest you submit a complaint. We only accept complaints that occur within the State of Michigan. If your complaint arose in a state other than Michigan, you must contact the ACLU office in that state.

About Us

Since our founding in 1920, the American Civil Liberties Union has led the fight to conserve our most precious liberties. Through the passion of our supporters, we have grown from a roomful of civil liberties activists to an organization of more than 500,000 active members and supporters with 54 state affiliate offices as well as a legislative office in Washington, DC.

Safe & Free

The ACLU wholeheartedly believes that we can be safe and free. There has never been a more urgent need to preserve fundamental privacy protections and our system of checks and balances than the need we face today, as illegal government spying and government-sponsored torture programs transcend the bounds of law and our most treasured values in the name of national security.

ACLU of Michigan Files FOIA on Execution of Trump’s Immigration Ban

2017-02-02 00:00:00

WASHINGTON — The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan filed a FOIA request today with its local U.S. Customs and Border Protection office to expose how Trump administration officials are interpreting and executing the president’s unconstitutional immigration ban, acting in violation of federal courts that ordered a stay on the ban’s implementation.

Muskegon Joins Nationwide Push for Community Control Over Police Surveillance

2016-09-21 00:00:00

MUSKEGON—Muskegon city officials announced today that they are launching legislative efforts to bring transparency to the acquisition and use of local police surveillance technologies for the first time. The measures, which are influenced by a set of guiding principles released by a diverse coalition of 17 national organizations today, include mandating city commission approval and a public hearing process that maximizes community input into surveillance technology decisions.

Appeals Court Rules for ACLU of Michigan in FOIA Case Against Detroit Public Schools

2016-01-07 00:00:00

In a key victory for government transparency, a state appeals court this week ruled that Detroit Public Schools must disclose the number of student discipline cases that have been referred to the Detroit police or the district’s internal police department.

The decision in Rodd Monts vs. Detroit Public Schools reverses an earlier district court ruling that upheld the district's claim that it did not have the information, a request for which was filed the ACLU of Michigan under the state Freedom of Information Act. A copy of the ruling can be read below:

State Police Using Cellphone Spy Gear to Catch Criminals

2015-10-23 00:00:00

State police in Michigan have been secretly using hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of cell site simulator equipment to locate and track cell phones since at least 2006, according to records obtained by the ACLU and ACLU of Michigan. And although the agency justified its initial purchase of the surveillance gear as "vital to the war on terrorism," the records show that the department used its cell site simulators in 128 run-of-the-mill investigations last year—not a single one of which was for terrorism. The records also highlight the continuing problem of excessive secrecy about use of this invasive tracking equipment.

Cell site simulators, commonly known as Stingrays, can precisely locate and track phones by mimicking cell phone towers and forcing phones in the area to transmit their unique identifying information. Because these devices raise serious privacy concerns, the ACLU has been tracking their purchase and use by law enforcement agencies across the country.

The records show that the State Police spent more than $200,000 in 2006 to purchase a Stingray, Kingfish, and related cellular tracking equipment. That purchase was paid for by a federal Department of Homeland Security grant. In a document justifying the purchase, MSP asserted, "This equipment will allow the State to track the physical location of a suspected terrorist who is using wireless communications as part of their operation." Yet, according to a January 2015 breakdown of one year's worth of Stingray deployments, that's not how the technology is being deployed. Out of 128 investigations where MSP used Stingrays in 2014, 42 were related to homicides, 30 for burglaries and robberies, 12 for assaults, 11 for missing persons, and the rest for a mix of offenses including drug crimes, obstructing police, and fraud. Not a single terrorism investigation among them.

DETROIT – In a press conference today, Governor Rick Snyder officially announced his appointment of University of Michigan legal professor Joan Larsen to the Michigan Supreme Court. From January 2002 through May 2003, Larsen served as deputy assistant U.S. attorney general in the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel. During her tenure, the OLC weakened the rule of law by issuing several legal opinions authorizing torture, indefinite detention, warrantless wiretapping, and other abuses of power.

American Woman Profiled, Removed from Plane and Strip Searched

2015-04-24 00:00:00

On September 11, 2011, a woman of Middle Eastern and Jewish descent named Shoshana Hebshi was sitting in the same row as two men of Indian descent on a Frontier Airlines flight from Denver to Detroit. When the Indian men got up to use the bathroom at the same time, someone reported their behavior as suspicious.

After the plane landed in Detroit, armed federal officials took not only the two men, but also Ms. Hebshi into custody at the airport jail.

CIA Spies on U-M Professor/Bush Critic in Attempt To Discredit Him

2013-07-29 00:00:00

The New York Times printed a front-page story in 2011 about a former CIA agent who claimed that the Bush administration asked the CIA to collect damaging information on University of Michigan Professor Juan Cole, a prominent critic of the Iraq War.

When the CIA refused to respond to the ACLU request for documents about the spying, the ACLU filed a lawsuit in federal court under the Freedom of Information Act.

The case settled in July 2013 after the government released numerous documents and agreed to pay attorneys’ fees.

ACLU of Michigan Legislative Docket: Privacy and Technology

2014-04-10 00:00:00

The ACLU maintains a presence in Lansing that enables us to pass policies that expand civil liberties or prevent the passage of policies that are hostile to civil liberties. Through traditional lobbying techniques lobbying, advocacy, and advocacy the legislative program seeks to advance and protect our civil liberties.

The ACLU of Michigan’s legislative program works on a breadth of issues. To give you an idea of what we’ve been up to, we have provided a brief summary, our position on the issue and where the bill is currently situation in the legislative process.

ACLU of Michigan Legislative Docket: Poverty

2014-04-10 00:00:00

The ACLU maintains a presence in Lansing that enables us to pass policies that expand civil liberties or prevent the passage of policies that are hostile to civil liberties. Through traditional lobbying techniques lobbying, advocacy, and advocacy the legislative program seeks to advance and protect our civil liberties.

The ACLU of Michigan’s legislative program works on a breadth of issues. To give you an idea of what we’ve been up to, we have provided a brief summary, our position on the issue and where the bill is currently situation in the legislative process.